UK Jobs: 90% of British Firms Believe Young People are Not Skilled Enough to Work

A British Chambers of Commerce survey of 3,000 firms has revealed that a whopping 90% of companies believe that school leavers were not ready for employment as they lack workplace skills such as communication and team working.

According the report, more than half of the respondents also said the same comments about university graduates, while the BCC called for more importance and abilities to be placed on secondary schools to install work experience into the curriculum.

"Business people tend to favour more skilled and experienced applicants - and while they do sympathise, their primary function is to run a business which means making business decisions," said BCC director general John Longworth.

"Firms need young people that are resilient, good communicators and understand how to work as part of a team. We believe that successive governments have failed our young people by not properly equipping them for their future careers.

"Government and educational institutions must be more focused on equipping young people for the workplace and in turn businesses must be more willing to give them a chance.

"In practice, this means introducing business governance into schools, proper careers advice with direct links to business and measuring the success of schools and universities based on the employment outcomes of pupils."

Britain's Department for Education said it was already working on how to get more young people into work experience before they leave school, college, or university.

"Our plan for education is designed to give every child the knowledge and skills they need to prepare them for life in modern Britain, and getting them ready for the world of work is part of this," said a Department spokesperson.

"We have already updated guidance for schools to encourage closer links with employers to deliver career insight talks, mentoring and work tasters in order to open pupils' eyes to the opportunities available to them and help them to make the right choices at the right time.

"New University Technical Colleges and studio schools are also giving young people a better chance than ever of developing a specialism that will help build a rewarding career.

"But there is more to do and we are looking closely at how else we can encourage employers and schools to improve how they work together."